2021 Bronco snaps both tie rods valiantly on extreme obstacle (Queens Throne obstacle on K2 trail)

[Gamecock]

From my understanding the only thing the Sas package adds over the Badlands is taller bump stops (less travel), spacer lift, removed crash bars and 4.7 gears. All the gear that has been breaking is the same. Following the design and buildup of the Bronco I would bet that their first plan was that all broncos would be 33s and that was the design. After testing and marketing pushed them they added the SAS package for stats. I have a hard time thinking you would on purpose remove things like the crash bars. The Sas package at first was not going to allow you the sway bar disco either. The way the fenders are and that the tires do not stuff just seems like an afterthought.

Sasquatch does not add a “spacer lift”. The additional lift is accomplished through taller coil-overs. The shocks are a different design than regular Badlands (reservoir is reversed in position), so definitely not just last minute throw on. I would also think with a 35 and the resulting greater resistance to movement into the cabin, the crash bars were deemed unnecessary. Thank God they gave is factory 35s…it was brilliant.

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[Shinoko]

I think people are over dramatizing these failures and projecting them a bit, acting like they are going to break when they hit a pothole. It's always worth asking or looking at context when something breaks: driver experience, terrain, previous use, etc.

From what I can tell, OPs wheeling was fairly intense, black rock features that i'd venture 99% of the people here (myself included) won't be doing and it's likely a stock Jeep would break when put through the same abuse. The OPs warranty was denied due to the state of his skids looking like a cheese grater, which was BS, but also indicates the amount of abuse he put it through. That's also not forgetting he put larger tires on which provide more leverage against the drivetrain/steering, pretty much universally it is agreed that adding larger tires will result in failures somewhere.

You can also see from the failures that his rods bent before they broke, you can see where the threads are pointing into another direction and it appears there is some scratching on his shock, possibly from the bent rod rubbing on it. Whether this happened simultaneously or not, I can't tell, but i'd be surprised if you couldn't identify it prior to the breakage unless it happened at the same time.

I have 2 spares, because they were $55 each and why not, better than getting stranded. I think that for the majority of us wheeling these, they will be fine.

 

[PavementQueen]

Oh no! Someone taught it how to Chevy!

 

[Mattwings]

I am surprised anyone thinks this is an issue with the design or OE part. It is lifted, has larger tires and was used well beyond what a "typical" vehicle would go through. The story is never recalled precisely (no offense to OP, we all have our bias and issues with recollecting details accurately) although I am sure the dealer mentioned the skid plate condition when assessing the warranty coverage vs. abuse, it's only one of several issues that would come up when assessing the cause of failure. It's good to know these parts will need to be a part of the upgrade when building an extreme rock crawler, but has little impact on more "regular" use of our Broncos.

 

[PavementQueen]

 

[BroncoAgain]

Yep,, buy a new Bronco, have it lifted and put some huge 37's on it then beat the crap out of it till something fails. Would be nice to have that kind of money. I wonder what else has been beat and is about to fail on it.

 

[GreyZ]

It looks like this guy is claiming to have solved the rack/tie rod issues. I am interested in what the solution is. Hopefully it is better than his spelling and grammar.
This was posted on the 6g Facebook page.

 

[goatman2]

This is a fix for a rack with 40" tires.

 

[edgeflyer]

All this talk about the Bronco wave and it's been right in front of us the whole time.

 

[rtaylor]

It looks like this guy is claiming to have solved the rack/tie rod issues. I am interested in what the solution is.

https://broncbustertx.com/

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